Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has canceled its nine-race Thursday card after more than three inches of rain fell in the area on Tuesday, and freezing temperatures overnight kept the track from being open for training on Wednesday.

Evening Concerto had not finished first in his last nine starts, a span of eight months, but broke through with a big performance to upset Tuesday night’s $35,100 Winter Handicap at Charles Town.

A significant purse boost for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and the return of the Grade 3 Allaire du Pont Distaff are the two biggest changes on the proposed spring stakes schedule at Pimlico.

The schedule, released Wednesday by the Maryland Jockey Club after it was endorsed by both the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Maryland Horse Breeders Association, still must be approved by the Maryland Racing Commision, which meets Feb. 15 at Laurel Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum, who races under the nom de course of Zabeel Racing, has purchased an interest in Morning Line from Thoroughbred Racing Legends Stable. Morning Line, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, figures to be among the favorites in Saturday’s Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Tom Amoss won the race last year with a filly, so why can’t history repeat? The eight-time leading trainer at Fair Grounds is back in the $40,000 South Mississippi Owners and Breeders Stakes with a proven entity in Red Hot Maria, so here’s the answer to that rhetorical question: It most certainly can.

Amoss sent out Red Hot Buddha to win the South Mississippi by 3 3/4 lengths last February at the New Orleans track, and when the six-furlong race is run Friday for the 16th time, Red Hot Maria will be the only filly in a field of 10 3-year-olds.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Tom Albertrani said he’s dropping Liberally out of the Grade 3 La Prevoyante, hoping to get a confidence-boosting victory for his mare in Friday’s $55,000 optional claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.

He’s not alone.

Joining Liberally in Friday’s 1 3/8-mile main event on the turf are Tarrip and Bodua, both of whom also ran in the La Prevoyante and are trying to get back on the winning track following extended losing streaks.

Turfway Park has regularly conducted racing at night under the lights for much of its 50-plus years of existence. But when the WEBN Stakes and 11 other races are run Saturday, it will mark the first time in nearly 30 years for a Saturday night card at the Florence, Ky., track.

“We’ve had tremendous success on Friday nights, so we thought we’d give this a try,” said Bob Elliston, president at Turfway since 1999.

Though Aqueduct has canceled Wednesday’s live racing program, the facility as well as Belmont Park will be open for simulcasting, New York Racing Association officials announced Wednesday morning.

Admission and parking are free at both places.

On the simulcast menu Wednesday is Gulfstream Park, Tampa Bay Downs and Laurel Park.

Live racing at Aqueduct is expected to resume Thursday with a nine-race program beginning at 12:30 p.m. that includes a pick-six carryover of $95,551.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The phone call was quick and to the point.

“Lee, I’ve got a horse you’ve got to buy,” trainer John Sadler told Lee Searing last fall.

With that, and little extra coaxing, Lee Searing agreed to a private acquisition of Gladding, who won a maiden race by 17 1/4 lengths at Calder in October. “It was pretty simple,” Searing recalls.

Machen, probably the most exciting 3-year-old prospect in New Orleans, made a successful transition from sprinting to routing when he won an entry-level allowance race Sunday. Now it’s time to see how Machen will stack up against stakes opponents, something he could try as soon as the Feb. 19 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.

“If everything goes well we are leaning toward the Risen Star,” trainer Neil Howard said Tuesday morning.